Saturday, June 11, 2016

"These are believable creations. They speak and fail and contradict
themselves with the regular inelegance of real people. The day-to-day
pleasures and pains of the service industry are also rendered with
fine-tuned realism, an ear for the strange within the mundane. Whitlock
is a very smooth, competent stylist, in an understated way. There’s no
flash or bang here: His characters propel the action, calling attention
to narrative style only with metaphor and image – which are always
arresting, always right."

Thursday, June 09, 2016

I am in need of funny, ridiculous, and/or disturbing true service
industry stories for a thing I am doing next month for Open Book. Tales
of bad bosses, "eccentric" customers, hellish shifts, exploding kegs,
etc. What are some moments you'll never forget, no matter how hard you
try?

They need to be short - 100 to 200 words, max. Just the
gist. Unless you say otherwise, they'll be anonymous. Send as many as
you like.

Please email them to [my first and last name, all one word] AT gmail dot com.

Saturday, May 21, 2016

Congratulations On Everythingfelt like a very different book
while I was writing it, and I think it is, though now that I look at it
as a finished thing, I can see a lot of similarities – people in bad
relationships, people who mistake passivity for integrity, people who
pursue dreams they are maybe not suited to achieve. All those sexy
things.

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Nice things said:

"Whitlock is an assured writer with a patient comic touch." – The National Post

“His characters propel the action, calling attention to narrative style only with metaphor and image – which are always arresting, always right ...an absorbing read.” – The Globe and Mail

"Whitlock's second novel slyly masks immense depth of character and emotion behind wry humor and a simple story about seemingly uncomplicated people . . . Whitlock shows that characters don't need to be flashy to be interesting, just written well." — Publishers Weekly (US)

"You might call Nathan Whitlock’s sense of humour the gallows kind: he readily locates the brutal and exposes its ridiculous underside. Not that he makes fun of his characters’ small, damaged lives—too much, anyway. Instead, he opens them up to reveal their working—and broken—parts.” — The Winnipeg Review

“Congratulations on Everything is a wonderfully complicated story about small but big ambitions, full of surprising, bittersweet twists. Expect some great laughs. Do yourself a favour: Get this book!” — Jowita Bydlowska, author of Drunk Mom: A Memoir

“Whitlock’s fast and funny novel explores lives that may look small from the outside but are vast and infinitely redeemable.” — Katrina Onstad, author of Everybody Has Everything

“Possibly the most entertaining book ever written about a decent guy committing self-sabotage. Reminds me of Russell Banks at his best.” — Cary Fagan, author of Bird’s Eye and My Life Among the Apes

“A funny, sad guided tour of the private hell that is owning a bar or restaurant. The best novel I’ve read all year.” — Corey Mintz, author of How to Host a Dinner Party